Dear Roommate Please Stop Being Hot [BL]-Chapter 88: Love Without Limits

The first light of morning crept in through the narrow dorm window, soft and golden, painting faint lines across the far wall.

Outside, the campus was hushed — the kind of hush that comes just before the world fully wakes, caught somewhere between sleep and stirring.

Inside, it was still.

Luca blinked open his eyes slowly, head foggy with the weight of things unsaid. He sat up in bed, spine stiff, gaze moving instinctively across the room—

And there he was.

Noel.

Curled on his side beneath a half-kicked blanket, one arm stretched out toward the wall like he’d been reaching for something in a dream.

His skin was pale, flushed pink at the cheeks and ears. His lips slightly parted, breath soft but uneven.

His hair, usually neat, was tousled across his forehead — vulnerable in a way Luca had never seen.

What made his chest clench was the damp sheen of sweat along Noel’s neck.

Luca slipped out of bed quietly, bare feet brushing cool tile.

He moved across the narrow space and crouched beside Noel, pressing a gentle palm to his forehead.

Too warm.

Hungover for sure. Maybe more.

Noel stirred faintly beneath his touch, brows twitching as if caught between waking and not.

Luca stayed for a beat longer, hand still resting lightly against his skin.

Then he stood, careful not to wake him, and turned toward his side of the room—

"Wait..."

The whisper stopped him mid-step.

Fingers wrapped around his wrist — delicate, weak, but firm enough to still him.

Luca turned.

Noel’s eyes were open now — barely, sleep-heavy and glassy, but focused just enough to find him.

His voice rasped. "Don’t go."

Luca knelt again, instinctively. "You should rest," he said softly. "Your fever’s up."

Noel blinked slowly. "Where were you going?"

Luca hesitated. "I thought... I thought maybe I should give you space. You said you didn’t want to see me."

Noel winced, closing his eyes for a moment as if the memory stung. "I didn’t mean it like that," he whispered.

Luca stayed silent.

Noel opened his eyes again, struggling to sit up. "I was upset. I saw Kian’s message on your phone, and I thought maybe... maybe that’s why you didn’t text me back that day. Why you were quiet. And then I saw you still—liking his post. I didn’t know what to think."

Luca let out a quiet breath. "I only messaged him to close that door. I don’t want him, Noel. I haven’t for a long time."

He sat down slowly on the edge of Noel’s bed.

"But you..." Luca paused, eyes flicking away. "You keep saying it’s just a week. Do you know how that sounds? Like you’re already counting down to the goodbye. I don’t want something that ends. I don’t want a love with an expiration date."

Noel’s heart cracked open, slow and soft.

"I said a week," he murmured, "because I was scared."

Luca looked back at him.

"I was scared you’d get tired of me," Noel continued. "Scared I’d fall harder than you, and you’d realize I’m not worth the effort. So I told myself — just a week. Just to prepare."

He shifted up slightly, unsteady but determined, facing Luca now.

"But I wasn’t planning to end it in a week," he whispered. "I was planning to ask you for more."

Luca blinked.

More?

"For another week?" he asked, voice quiet. "Another month? How long would I have to keep waiting for you to want me without limits?"

Noel’s throat bobbed. He moved closer.

"Not just a week," he said. "Not a month. Not until graduation and goodbye."

He was fully upright now, eyes clear despite the ache in his head, and every word came steady and slow.

"I want you to be my boyfriend. Not just a date. I want to keep waking up in this room with you. I want to walk to class beside you, argue over every little thing together, order too much takeout, and stress over finals. And when this room is no longer ours—when we graduate—I want to find a new one with you. I want the ordinary stuff. All of it with you."

He exhaled, voice trembling.

"No countdown. No limits. Just you. Will you be my boyfriend, Luca?"

The silence that followed wasn’t empty.

It was full — full of air thick with emotion, full of the months they hadn’t spoken these truths aloud.

Then Luca leaned forward, forehead resting against Noel’s.

His hand cupped the side of his face gently.

And he whispered, "Yes."

Luca hadn’t moved.

His forehead rested gently against Noel’s, their breaths brushing together — light, unsteady, real.

Then Noel tilted his head... just slightly. His nose brushed Luca’s—quiet, deliberate.

Luca’s breath hitched. "Noel—" he whispered, trying to pull back just enough to think clearly.

"You’ve got a fever," he said. "You should be resting, not—"

"I am resting," Noel murmured. His hand lifted, finding Luca’s wrist. His touch was warm — too warm — but his grip was sure.

"I’m resting here, with you," he added, voice low, as he leaned in again.

Luca’s heart thudded.

"Noel," he tried again, softer this time, "we don’t have to—"

But Noel was already closing the space, gently — like every inch was a promise, not a rush.

"I know," Noel breathed. "We don’t have to. I want to."

And then... he kissed him.

The kiss lingered longer this time, lips moving gently, like a question and an answer whispered at once.

Eyes closed.

Breathing each other in.

Not tentative, but slow.

Sure.

Like he’d been waiting for this moment since the day they met — and had finally stopped holding back.

Luca froze for half a heartbeat.

Then kissed him back.

His hands moved instinctively — one cupping Noel’s jaw, the other finding his waist, fingers trembling just a little.

He could feel the warmth of Noel’s skin through the thin fabric of his shirt, could feel the curve of his spine as he leaned in, closer, deeper.

And it was everything.

Not perfect — messy, a little breathless — but real.

Noel’s lips parted slightly under his, and Luca exhaled into the kiss, his fingers curling tighter as if afraid it might all slip away.

When they finally pulled apart, just barely, Luca’s nose brushed against Noel’s again.

Luca reached up, brushing a strand of hair from Noel’s face."You’re burning up," he whispered.

Noel gave a breathless laugh. "Yeah. That’s your fault."

Luca smiled, helpless.

"You need to lie down," he said, and this time, it wasn’t a protest — just a quiet suggestion wrapped in affection.

Noel nodded, gently tugging Luca down with him.

They shifted slowly, limbs tangled without urgency. The blanket pulled half over them, skin warm where it touched skin. Luca’s hand rested over Noel’s chest, feeling the faint thump of his heartbeat — steady, honest, close.

They lay like that in silence for a while, kisses exchanged like whispered truths between them.

No rush.

No countdown.

Just warmth, breath, and the soft sound of two people finally choosing each other — completely.

They lay tangled beneath the thin dorm blanket, limbs brushing, breath steadying.

The sunlight shifted softly across the room now, golden light settling over them like a quiet blessing. Everything was still — not the silence of tension anymore, but of peace.

Noel had curled toward him, one arm draped tightly around Luca’s waist, pulling him in close like he might disappear if he didn’t hold on.

Luca didn’t resist.

He brought a hand up to rest gently on Noel’s shoulder, fingertips grazing the back of his neck in slow, absent circles. Their foreheads touched again, eyes open but soft, studying each other in the quiet.

"I thought I lost you yesterday," Noel whispered. His voice was low, rough with sleep and leftover ache.

Luca blinked slowly. "You didn’t," he murmured. "But I almost lost you."

Noel’s brows twitched. "You didn’t."

His hand slid up Luca’s back, fingers curling slightly in the fabric of his shirt.

"I’m here." Noel’s voice was soft but certain. "Right here. I’m not going anywhere."

Luca let out a soft breath — something like a laugh, something like surrender.

"You hold me like you don’t believe that," he whispered.

Noel tightened his arms around him. "That’s because I don’t trust the universe yet. Just you."

Their noses brushed again, gentle.

And then another kiss — not deep this time, but long. Warm. The kind of kiss that said I’m not afraid anymore.

Luca pressed his palm against Noel’s chest like he needed to feel the beat of his heart. "You’re still way too warm," he murmured, brushing a thumb over Noel’s cheek. "Like you swallowed the sun."

Noel nodded slightly, eyes fluttering closed as he leaned into the curve of Luca’s body.

"Yeah," he said. "But I’ve never felt better."

They stayed like that. Breathing together.

Luca’s hand eventually found Noel’s and held it between them, fingers lacing naturally.

Their legs brushed now and then under the covers — not by accident, but out of instinct, like their bodies were still finding ways to say I’m yours.

"I don’t want to move," Noel mumbled, his voice soft against Luca’s throat.

"Then don’t," Luca replied.

And they didn’t.

They stayed wrapped up in each other — quiet, safe, steady — letting the world go on without them for a little while longer.

Because right now, in this narrow dorm room with beds pushed too close and hearts finally pulled closer — there was nothing else they needed.

Luca shifted slightly, brushing his thumb along Noel’s cheekbone.

"I’ll get you some meds," he said softly, starting to pull away.

But Noel’s arms tightened around him instantly, anchoring him in place.

"No," Noel murmured. "Just... stay."

Luca paused.

He could feel Noel’s breath against his lips.

"I’m fine," Noel added, eyes fluttering open just enough to meet his. "Just... not yet. Don’t move yet."

Luca smiled — a small, helpless thing — and gave in.

"Okay. I won’t move," he said, brushing a kiss against Noel’s brow. "But you’re still burning up, and I’m not letting you just lie here and melt."

He reached for his phone without breaking the hold Noel had on him.

One hand still resting against Noel’s side, he pulled up a delivery app with the other, tapping quickly.

"What are you doing?" Noel asked sleepily.

"Ordering food. And meds. And maybe that overpriced soup place you pretend not to like but always finish when I order it."

Noel huffed out a laugh. "It’s good soup."

"I know it’s good soup," Luca grinned. "That’s why I’m ordering two."

He hit confirm, tossed the phone onto his bed without a second thought, and turned fully back toward Noel.

"Done," he said. "Now I’m yours for the next forty minutes. Soup ETA included."

Noel smiled against his chest.

And this time, when Luca wrapped his arms around him, it wasn’t to keep him from running — it was to hold onto something that felt like it was finally, finally, real.

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